Contents

Ranged character that doubles as polearm user. His main task is to eliminate enemy spellcasters and ranged units with secondary task to snipe enemy high damage units(two handers/polearm users, berserkers). Range is essential for this task so its preferred to use bows.

Explanation of Situational Perks:Fearsome - good alternative to Killing Frenzy. Good at reducing the effectiveness of incoming heavily armored troops.

Fast Adaption - Gets worse the better your recruit is. Most effective at early game on suboptimal archers.

Gifted - Most effective on suboptimal archers. Note: If taken at level 11 with free perk given by Student, it will not level you to 12.

Crippling Strikes - Good at reducing the effectiveness of incoming heavily armored troops.

Executioner- Bow gets more mileage out of this than crossbows. Archer tend to act first before everyone else, and two shots from bows (assuming you do not move) can cause the second hit to proc executioner.

Explanation for differences between crossbowman and Bow Archer
Crossbow spend 2 AP on shooting and 6 AP on reloading, berserk gives 4 AP, meaning taking Berserk will not allow you to attack more than once per turn with minor exceptions.

Take Crippling Strikes because you can leverage your high armor penetration(even further with crossbow mastery)

No Quickhands because since you attack once a turn, you won't be switching quivers as much.

Explanation of Situational PerksFearsome - good alternative to Killing Frenzy. Not as good on crossbowman because you can only attack once a turn.

Fast Adaption - Gets worse the better your recruit is. Most effective at early game on suboptimal archers. Not as good on crossbowman because you can only attack once a turn.

Gifted - Most effective on suboptimal archers. Note: If taken at level 11 with free perk given by Student, it will not level you to 12.

Executioner- Bow gets more mileage out of this than crossbows, but crossbow can create injury more reliably thanks to high piercing.

Overwhelm - Leverage your high initiative. More mileage out of this on crossbowman than bows because you rarely run out of fatigue as a crossbowman(meaning higher initiative throughout), the disadvantage is you can only attack once a turn.

Explanation
Nobles backgrounds of all forms are subpar as frontline troops, thanks to -10 range defense, making them easy target for enemy Archers.

The perk package of Student, Pathfinder, Brawny, Rotation, Underdog, Battleforged really needs no explanation. They are core to any non-dodge, non-nimble builds.

Fearsome is taken over Killing Frenzy because one-hander will never achieve the same damage power that two-handers will. However they will hit much more frequently, and a fleeing enemy is equivalent of a dead enemy, therefore fearsome is how a shield user will be defeating foes.

Shield Expert is a must for any full-time shield user. It significantly boosts the bonus provided by shields and it makes Shieldwall even more impenetrable. Furthermore, since Frontline won't be leveling Range Defense, meaning you have to compensate with shield. Kite Shield with Shield Expert provides a whooping +31 Range Defense by itself, and alongside Battle-Forged, making it sufficient against most Archer encounters without terrain penalties.

Weapon Mastery perks are not core because frontline will change their weapon choice depending on encounter.

Explanation
Nobles backgrounds of all forms are subpar as frontline troops, thanks to -10 range defense, making them easy target for enemy Archers.

The perk package of Student, Pathfinder, Brawny, Rotation, Underdog, Battleforged really needs no explanation. They are core to any non-dodge, non-nimble builds.

Killing Frenzy is taken over Fearsome because you don't attack frequently, but +25% of a two-hander's damage is a significant boost.

Two-Handers generally don't run out of stamina as fast as shield users unless you use weapon secondary abilities or or Rotation frequently.

Adrenaline is a good pick-up because it would allow your Two-Hander effective 18 AP to play with before they act again, assuming you have slow initiative and begin acting on the second phase.

Weapon Mastery is very good on Frontline Two-Handers, as it allows you to AoE more frequently, and to leverage your fatigue based abilities. In general Axe Mastery is very good at dealing with shields and armor, Sword Mastery is all purpose and lets you use its AoE abilities more, and Hammer allows you do more armor damage.

Reach Advantage is a bit of a trap. It provides 20% of your base melee defense per hit, up to 6 target hit(120%). Most of the time you won't have enough defense to make this shine.

Quickhands would allow you to end turns with a shield thus improving your defense at no AP expense.

Explanation
Nobles backgrounds of all forms are subpar as frontline troops, thanks to -10 range defense, making them easy target for enemy Archers.

The perk package of Student, Pathfinder, Brawny, Rotation, Underdog, Battleforged really needs no explanation. They are core to any non-dodge, non-nimble builds.

Killing Frenzy is taken over Fearsome because you don't attack frequently, but +25% of a two-hander's damage is a significant boost.

Two-Handers generally don't run out of stamina as fast as shield users unless you use weapon secondary abilities or Rotation frequently.

Anticipation is a key mastery for Backline Two-Handers, especially early game. With 30 range defense it will make your Backline Two-Handers almost immune to enemy archers, the chief problem to deploying polearm users early game when Bandit Poachers start showing up.

Adrenaline is a good pick-up because it would allow your Two-Hander effective 18 AP to play with before they act again, assuming you have slow initiative and begin acting on the second phase.

Weapon Mastery for Backline Two-Hander is not really necessary, as polearms, the weapon you will be using most frequently do not benefit significantly from Polearm Mastery. The best mastery would be Axe Mastery if you were to take a mastery perk, since it at least improves shield damage.

Weapon of choice for Backline Two-Handers is the Pike for early game, Billhook against armor or when you do not need the extra chance-to-hit, and Longaxe when you need to destroy enemies hiding behind shieldwall.

Reach Advantage is a bit of a trap. It provides 20% of your base melee defense per hit, up to 6 target hit(120%). Most of the time you won't have enough defense to make this shine.

Quickhands would allow you to end turns with a shield thus improving your defense at no AP expense.